Running For Runnings sake?!: Petts Wood 10k 2021

Hello blog readers.

No.2 look at that!

It has been a week and a bit now since I did the PWR 10k I bet you have all been wondering if I am ever going to talk about it! Well I am, as you can see!

I am sure I have mentioned before that the only other time I ran this race was 11 years ago, on the 10/10/10 at 10:10 am! That was the official gun time! It must have been a very lucky year for me, because that is where I found out about Petts Wood Runners! An amazing club, I was so excited back then, to be doing my first ever 10 k race. I loved it so much I decided that I wanted to be a part of this fantastic club.

If you want to read about my first experience than you can click here and it should take you to it.

So, on to this years PWR 10K. I woke up feeling excited and a little anxious. Due to the pandemic and me not doing so much exercising last year my weight piled on. I am having trouble shifting it! Running is a lot harder work than it was way back then. But I know the route, I know the hills, I know those woods, but best of all, I know the marshals! They were the ones that got me through the race last Sunday, on the 10th of the 10th....how much of a coincidence is that. If I had been racing the year before the date would have been the 11th of the 10th!

No getting up too early, I wasn't needed at the rec to organise the toilet queue, hand out bananas or medals. I was one of the runners. I put my bag in the bag drop and then went to find Auriol who also had a place in the 10k. On the way, I bumped into our very own gorilla family, Woody and Woodina and child! I'm not sure if we know what the baby gorilla is called?

Our tail walkers are always superstars, this year they were also...super heros!

Ali G also graced us with his presence,
"Big up to der PRW Massive, dey iz the wickedest"
"Its PWR Ali"
"What eva"

I eventually found Auriol, or at least she found me. We moved forward in to the front of the last pen and found Charlie. All of us were pretty excited to be there. The nerves started to get to me just a little as I thought about the my first time. Will I totally embarrass my self by not finishing, getting nearer the 2 hour mark? As sure as heck I knew I wasn't going to get near my first time! After all, I am 11 years older as well! I think I have covered all the excuses and perfectly reasonable reasons regarding my time this year...unless you can think of anything I have left!

Even the Orpies love our run!

As you can imagine the smile on my face was from ear to ear. I was trying to go over the route in my head, the bits where I knew I was going to struggle, how I was going to deal with that struggle, by the way, I had no strategies whatsoever in dealing with the hard bits apart from just getting my well rounded arse up there! The time came, the first wave started off. We are still in covid mode, so gun time and actual time for me will be somewhat of a spread! Every few minutes I head the cheer as the three waves in front of me started off. Then it was our turn, the fun runners, the 'I am so blimmin happy I can run' runners. The runners who are just so amazed that they are doing a 10k runners! No agenda but to get around, enjoy the scenery, enjoy the cheers from the crowds.

I heard my name being called out quite a few times as I went over the mats as well as 'beep, beep, beep, beep" as each of the runners tag started their own personal time. I couldn't think about my time, I just wanted to get out there and experience one of the best races I have done. We did a loop of the park and then out on to Towncourt Lane, I wasn't quite sure if we would be going left or right so I was really pleased when we started heading towards J.J.'s house. She was out there on the road with her little cheerers cheering us on! Charley, Auriol and Sara, who was also in the same pen as me, found their rhythm and moved ahead of me. We all had chatted about our lack of training done for this race so all of us were just going to do our best. With the residents out cheering us on though the streets we felt like Olympians, who needs training eh?!

I followed the runners around the streets and along to Tent Peg Lane, my thoughts drifted back to 2010, thinking then how I was going to run for ever. Well, I guess that bit is definitely on the way to fruition, I have no plans to give up my running days that's for sure! My mind drifted further back, to when I first started running, when I first started to think "I need to work on this keep fit malarkey". That first spark of motivation that got me running. It was my sisters (Nagging Sister) idea, she had decided that we were going to do a run in memory of our mum who passed away in 2007. No asking, just telling us how it was going to be. We did the Race for Life in the City of London in 2008 and from there the rest is history! In fact it's all written down here in this blog site! Maybe I should write out a few excerpts from over the years into a book form! Yawn! Not another running book!

Anyway, I digress, as usual. Running through Jubilee park brought back a fabulous memory. This is where my family were waiting, my young grandson, little Dude, just a toddler was smiling and cheering me. I must have looked like a complete nutter as I smiled on past this particular section! The smile didn't last much longer though when I remembered what was coming up!

It was a lovely down hill section, all the way down to Blackbrook lane so my smile lasted until there, I can't remember if this is where Loulou and Terry were, I am pretty sure it was, of course they brought a smile to my face to! Also one of the Zero's to Hero's team caught up with me on this section, "Do you want company?" she asked as I just walked a bit, I knew what was at the bottom of this hill, just underneath the three bridges, after the right turn at the end of this road! My nemesis! Goss Hill! "Nah, you're alright, thanks, see you at the finish" I must say, our club sure know how to motivate you when it comes to hills. There were all sorts of signs going up here to help you stay focused, if you were running, or make you smile if you just wanted to 'enjoy the view!'

The view from the hill!

I was pretty pleased to get to the top of that particular hill! Ran a bit, walked most! The farmer always allows us to run at the edge of his field, he opens the gates on either side of the field so that we don't have to run along the 'roller coaster' up and down type of thin path, with the horrible barbed wire fence at the side. It felt so much nicer running along this bit knowing that I don't have to worry about the ups and downs of the path or the barbed wire. Just before I got to the gate I noticed one of our three photographers that we have for the day. Did I smile, I do hope so, was I running, I better had been!

In the field!

The path running down from the corner of the field is such a welcome relief, all the way down pass the lovely house, down to the river and the water station. Don't worry, they not been using the river to fill up the paper cups, honest! Half way round, just a parkrun to do! It felt good, even though to me it didn't feel like I had been running that long, maybe because I just knew all the faces on the course, but it was longer than I normally would have done a 5k! Well, I was here to just enjoy everything that PWR have done on this course! I know I saw a picture of me at the water station, but I just can't find it! Anyway, they were a crack team there by the river, with the midges! I hope they had jungle formula spray on!

From the river it's up again, I actually ran that little hill, then the thoughts of the next bigger hill came into my head. I'm chuckling now as I remember the first time I had to go up this bit "How many hills are there" or words to that effect! Some more familiar faces along here, all cheering me on! Robbie was along this bit, towards the middle of the hill! Robbie, who always run with me in group 1, always being a very helpful sweeper! It was still a bit woody in that section, but I came out with the field on my left and a sign on my right saying 'smile'. Yup, just at the top of this hill they put a photograper! 'Jump?" he said! I didn't know if I had it in my legs, but I think I managed to get both feet of the ground at the same time!

Me spying the camera, "For feck sake smile Old Girl"

Jump!! How about I just shove my head in my
shirt to look like I jumped!

It's flat now, just as we turn right to run to the beginning of the middle path, running down to the resident 'Band in the Woods' our very own Tim and this year he was accompanied by Sally. What other race has a band in the woods? Also here were some more of my friends, RefMichael, CaroleWithAnE, Pheranice! They were having a party in the woods! There was bunting and balloons, there was a crowd dancing along to some fantastic tunes! Oh I wish I knew how to upload a video here! Tim and Sally we singing Twist and shout as I came running down! Brilliant atmosphere here!

I was going to stay and have a dance, or even grab the mic and sing along, but I knew I just had to get up the last hill.....almost, it was the last hill in the woods shall we say! But this was cuts across to the right, it don't go all the way to the top, then it's just a run along to the rail lines where the exit to the woods is. I had finished the run in the woods, the best bit. Well, actually the best bit was all of it! But you know what I mean, the run in the woods, the fresh air, the smell of the trees and the peace.....no, no peace, not on that day anyway! Not filled with all our cheering PWR's! No, that day it was no peaceful, it was a party on the hoof!

Running along and down Birchwood, running towards the rec, towards the finish lines, I can't tell you how happy I was feeling, blimming tired, but so happy! I was thinking about the 'One in the Wood' having their lovely kegs of beer there! Laura' Larder was also there, I was looking forward to trying something from there! The finish line was there, the medal was there, PWR cheer team was there, some of the marshal from the course were there! That last bit of running up Towncourt was hard. I remembered back to the first time, my son in law was running next to me, urging me to keep going! It was just amazing, this time Adam was next to me, at first walking with me but then running with me as I turned into the rec, I could almost feel the warmth and the love of all the PWR's that was in the rec still! Wendimoo was there, she ran some of the way towards the finish with me, I heard my name on the left and the right, I was smiling! What a brilliant race! Ok, so I didn't get anywhere near my time when I first did it, but what I did have this time around was a whole running club behind me!